Pac-12 intel: Why Jaden Rashada has become legit possibility to win Arizona State starting QB job

Florida fans may soon have a reason to be checking out Arizona State football games.

Seven months after the much-publicized NIL drama that led to Jaden Rashada being granted a release from his national letter of intent with the Gators, Rashada has emerged as a legitimate possibility to be named the starting quarterback entering his true freshman season at Arizona State, sources tell On3.

After opening Sun Devils fall camp on July 31 as the team’s third-string quarterback behind Notre Dame transfer Drew Pyne and senior Trenton Bourguet, Rashada may now be the most likely of the three to open the season as Arizona State’s starting QB.

Pyne had been the leader in the competition but sustained a hamstring injury during a scrimmage this past weekend and is currently sidelined. That’s opened the door for Rashada, who has continued to stand out with his arm talent and big-play capability, including this week.

With Pyne out, Rashada has gotten a lot of work with the Sun Devils’ first-team offense this week. Bourget, who made five starts for ASU last season, has gotten first-team work too.

“He has an NFL arm,” a source said of Rashada. “He can throw the ball 60 yards with a flick of the wrist and has completed several passes over 55 yards where he’s hitting the receivers on the money in stride. This kid has unreal talent.”

Following an Arizona State scrimmage on Wednesday, ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham indicated to local reporters that he’ll probably select his starting QB in the range of next Thursday for the team’s season-opening game against Southern Utah.

While it wasn’t a flawless showing by any means, Rashada did once again flash that arm talent and the capability to make big plays down the field during the scrimmage Wednesday.

“The plays he can make with the ball down the field and how he can move the pocket is what’s most impressive,” a source said.

If Rashada does end up starting, he’ll have the benefit of working under a proven quarterback developer in Dillingham, who played a big role in the evolution of Oregon star QB Bo Nix and Florida State star Jordan Travis as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Ducks and Seminoles, respectively.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound Rashada ranked as the sixth-best quarterback and 73rd-best overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s the third-highest ranked quarterback recruit for Arizona State in the modern recruiting era, behind only current LSU QB Jayden Daniels and Class of 2015 top-55 overall recruit Brady White.

The most recent of those two, Daniels, became the first true freshman QB in Sun Devils history to start the first game of the season. Now, it’s possible that Rashada becomes the second.

“He’s just gotten better, better and better every day,” Dillingham told local reporters of Rashada Wednesday. “You saw him go out there today and when he’s on the field, explosive plays happen. Now, is there a learning curve with him? Yeah. He didn’t really get many reps in spring ball because he showed up the day before. He didn’t earn the right to be with the ones or twos to begin fall camp, so he started with the threes. But over a period of time, he’s grown and gotten better and better and better and he’s earned the reps to be with the ones. He’s earned the reps to be with the twos. 

“So it’s a matter of watching the tape and seeing: Are his positives and explosives, do they outweigh the young moments that you’re going to have as a young quarterback? And can (we) as a staff control those young moments enough to where we can showcase his talents?”